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Over 2,815 reviews forJacksonville Patio And Sunroom Builders from people just like you.

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"Found the recommendations for this company on Angie's list and happy that I did. In my opinion this is an outstanding business - probably one of the best I" ...More have dealt with in recent years. Their charges are reasonable and fair - they stuck to their original estimate even though they had to spend considerable time getting the new door to fit the old space. The technicians were very skilled young men who paid plenty of attention to detail and left my new door looking great and fitting like a glove. They really worked h****** this project. Thank you to the technicians who cared enough to do a really good job for me and thank you

- I will use you again if I get the opportunity. Recommend highly

-Sharon P.

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"Installation team (

& Zac) arrived on time, were really professional, did the installation and left the area clean. Quality materials," ...More the framing is substantial. We received good advice when we purchased the installation (approx 6 weeks ago) with regard to door placement and cross sections, very happy with the results.

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Angie's Answers

An itemized list / cost breakdown, more often than not is used against the contractor when it is shared with other builders who will then beat it.

Good contractors use good people, and good people cost more. Just the cost of having the appropriate insurance / bond can be the difference between winning a job or losing it ot a 'lower bid'.

It is the rule of three; there is Good, Cheap and Fast. You can have any two: Good and Cheap, won't be Fast; Good and Fast, won't be Cheap; Cheap and Fast, won't be Good!

When comparing bids, it isn't the cheapest or the 'nicest' person you should select. You should understand why there is a large price difference (it shows there are gaps in your design program or what you have asked for specifically, which means there may be arguments later). If most of the bids are in line, and one is way high or way low, you want to know why before dismissing or selecting them.

No. Heck no. Here's a good example. We very recently needed to find someone to install about 500 square feet of exotic wood flooring (we already have the materials). We contacted about 12-15 top-rated Angieslist contractors. Out of the few who did get back to us, we got 5 quotes, 2 of them were literally just over the phone. They "didn't feel it would be necessary to even see the space".

Here were the bids:

$4000 (sight unseen), $2800 (sight unseen), $2500, $1500, $1450

We didn't "share our budget for this". Why would we? We asked them to bid the job. That's it. All of them should be well-qualified and they are all highly rated. We were interested in how THEY value their time/resources - for an apples/apples job.

Do you still think that you should tell them about your budget? Your choice. From my standpoint it isn't their business. I'm asking them to bid on a project. Invariably I'll get some very high bids, medium bids and a few more reasonable ones - ALL from "highly rated contractors".

Herlonginc's answer stated that it is not the contractor's job to pay for materials and labor to do the job. I say baloney - a reputable, established contractor has the funds (or a business operations line of credit) to "carry" the job between interim or partial payments, each of which should be keyed to completion of distinct easily measured mileposts in the job, and for a homeowner I would say should be in not more than 20% increments for jobs exceeding a week or so. For shorter jobs, then an initial payment, 50% completion, and completion would be normal. His cost of carry funds is part of his cost of doing business, and is figured as part of his overhead.Bear in mind when he is buying materials and paying labor, his materials he typically pays for on a 10-30 day invoice, and his labor typically a week or two after they work, so he is not really "fronting" that much money if you are giving him weekly or biweekly interim payments, on a typical residential job.

If he does not have the funds to buy materials (excepting possibly deposit on special-order or luxury items, which still typically are 10-30 day invoiceable to him) and hire personnel then he is a fly-by-night operation, and he should not be bidding that size job. You should never (other than MAYBE an earnest deposit of not more than the LESSER of 10% or $5000) let the payments get ahead of the approved/inspected work progress - typically payment should be 10-20% BEHIND the progress, with at least 10% retained at the effective end of work until final inspections and completion of the final "punchlist".

That promotes rapid continuation of the work, discourages the all-too common nightmare of contractors taking on more work than they can handle so they leave your job for weeks or months to go work on someone else's job (frequently to start that someone else's new job so he can get the job), and does not leave you out a tremendous amount of cash if he does not finish and you have to hire another contractor to finish the job. Remember, if you have to hire a new contractor to finish the job, he will charge you a lot more than the original bid to finish someone else's unfinished mess.

This may seem cynical, but having started in the construction business about 50 years ago and seeing the shenanigans that a lot of contractors pull you cannot be too safe. You have to remember contractors are like any other people - I would say maybe 10% are outright crooks, another 25% or so will pull a fast one or overcharge if the opportunity presents itself, maybe 30% will do the work but not any better than they are forced to, about 25% are good conscientious reputable workmen, and the last 10% or so are really spectacular - conscientious, fair, and efficient craftsmen. This top 35% are the only ones you should have bidding in the first place. Therefore, only get bids from long-term reputable firms (so you shake out the marginal short-timers with less experience and also generally less ability to finish the job on budget and schedule), only those that have good RECENT references, and preferably with excellent word-of-mouth recommendation from people you know and trust. That way, you are starting right off with the cream of the crop, so hopefully whichever one bids low should be a good choice.

NEVER start with bids, then check the references of the low bidder - why even consider a vendor or contractor who you do not have faith in from the start ? Get references and short-list you possibles BEFORE you ask for bids.

Low bids - that is another matter - commonly the low bidder is NOT who you want, especially if he is significantly lower than several others, which might mean he is desperate for work, made a math error, or did not correctly figure the entire scope of work. You want a reasonable bid with someone you connect with and trust - that is worth a lot more in the success of the job than the absolute lowest bid.

For this type of job, you need plans and specs from an Architectural/Engineering firm before thinking about contractors - and to get a building permit.
Ben's method would work and done incrementally could cost well over $100,000 plus as he says, but this not really the most economic way to approach this big a job. A House Mover or Foundation Underpinning specialty company can usually slide your house onto a whole new foundation, or jack it up on steel beams and hold it there while a basement is dug underneath it, without any intermediate piers. The jacking/move cost would probably be on the order of $30-40,000, and a new basement probably about $40-50,000 - rough ballpark, though I have been involved in some 1000-1500SF single story jobs that went for under $70,000 total.
I have been involved in a fair number of these type jobs - and the way the numbers come out, if there is room on the property to move the house, it is almost always nearly as cheap or cheaper to build an equivalent square footage (basement plus ground level) addition rather than add a basement under the house, and that way your new footage is half above ground so worth more on resale, plus you do not lose use of the house for a month or two. Second cheapest is usually sliding house to a new foundation, if property is large enough to do this - though house is totally cut off from utilities for a week to three. Most expensive, and usually only done in tight city environments or with full 2 story or higher houses, is adding the foundation in place, though your utility interruptions should be on the order of hours at a time rather than days or weeks.
Talk to an architect - I think you will quickly lean towards the addition option rather than adding a basement - it is just too expensive to deepen foundations in most cases, plus you WILL get cracking in the house and possible water and sewer pipe problems in a move/underpinning job, which is not the case with an addition. This become more likely the case since you want to add 8 feet off the back of the home anyway - so why not just enlarge the addition and do it all that way - MUCH simpler, and MUCH less disruption of your life, and you get much higher resale return on your investment.

Sunroom And Patio reviews in Jacksonville

Work was done with quality, looks great and has added value to their home. All work was completed in the timeframe promised (1 day) on the day scheduled. They are very happy.”

- Chandra T.

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I saw

Improvement at the Home and Patio Show and am very glad I used them. Everything from the estimate to the actual work was done on time and as promised. They replaced my existing screened porch frame to accommodate windows and added custom sized windows and a door. They are professional and responsive. ”

- Lyn N.

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Came out and did estimate just a day or two after initial contact. Agreed to price and started work a day or two later. During work, his gutter man pointed out problems with old gutters. Old gutters were part of new construction and they had cut corners by not installing braces between gutter and facia. Gutters were starting to sag in places. I asked ...More for estimate and had them replaced. Also, I told him about a place on my roof that had leaked in the past, he used metal gutter material to fix the problem. I didn't have
to call a roofer! He also changed the drainage on part of roof to divert water from the problem area.”

- Michael S.

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I contacted Cliff about getting an estimate and he, was very busy with some other small jobs and was getting ready to begin a complete enclosure job that would keep him tied up for several days. He, however, agreed to meet with me on that Thursday to give me an estimate. In the meantime another company came out and gave me a quote and told me what I ...More needed. I had something come up and I had to cancel our appointment so when I called him he offered a quote over the phone and since I knew what I needed.
Cliff had his crew come out the following Monday and even coordinated with a painter that needed to paint behind some screen panels which they removed and replaced with new ones. This was not on the original quote, but Cliff told me that he would be fair and take care of me. Well he was true to his word and I felt that this was going beyond expectations. At this point, he had neither met me or gotten form of payment. His wife and partner took care of all of this over the phone at my convenience. She could not have been nicer or more accommodating.
The whole experience was very easy and the job that was done was professional and timely. I will definitely call Cliff and Char the next time I need any related work.”

- Rich C.

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Called the company for a quote and ended up using their services as they offered to do more than the other quotes I had received. They also made several recommendations to me that helped make my pool deck no longer flood. We are planning to use them to add on a concrete patio outside of the pool enclosure. Great company.

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- Jennifer P.

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The job went well and the team from

did a great job. Only two items with scheduling caused me to give them a 'B' for punctuality.
1. My job was delayed from a Friday to the following Monday because their team needed an extra day to finish a job that was ahead of mine.
2. When the team arrived to rescreen ...More my porch, they were not aware of the door being replaced and relocated. Because they did not have the door nor the necessary supplies to relocate the door the job was pushed out to Tuesday.
The screens and new door looks fantastic and with the door in it's proper place I now have extra room to add more seating.
I would definitely recommend using

. They do quality work and have reasonable prices.

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- John M.

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was out installer, and he was courteous, professional & diligent. We were very impressed with his workmanship on the screen and he even cleaned our whole lanai when he was complete, leaving it spotless. Would definitely recommend both

and

.”

- Thomas S.

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This our second project with

. They built an additional covered patio for hubby's BBQ, removed existing iron fence around our pool and built the most amazing screen enclosure over all our patios and pool. The team is professional and easy to work with.

, the owner was out three times during the project ...More ensuring all the measurements we precise. ”